The Glee Holiday Spectacular!

Imagine flipping through the television channels and you turned on Glee’s Extraordinary Merry Christmas, expecting a group of rambunctious teenagers covering a number of holiday pop songs, but instead you get a black-and-white homage to Judy Garland’s 1963 Christmas Special, complete with laugh tracks, a Luke Skywalker lookalike (including a lightsaber) and an Irish holiday elf!

Well, this Glee Christmas program was every bit as strange as it sounds, but maybe in today’s times it takes a show like this to spread holiday cheer and inspire the gift of giving.

An Education in Equality: Intimate Explorations of Diversity in America

An Education in Equalityis a documentary short film created by documentarians Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson as an Op-Doc video for The New York Times. Filmed over a period of 13 years, this short film presents a coming-of-age story of an African-American boy, Idris, who attends The Dalton School, a prestigious private school in Manhattan. The story of Idris and one of his close friends became the acclaimed feature-length documentary American Promise.

What began as an exploration of diversity in New York’s elite private-school world grew into a story that touches on the much larger themes of identity, race and class in American society. An Education in Equality is not only a powerful illustration of unintended racial alienation, but also a sprawling testament to parental devotion and the natural will of children, an intimate, epic American documentary unlike anything that’s come before it.

Mickey Mouse Short “Croissant de Triomphe” Wins Three 2013 Emmys

Disney’s Mickey Mouse animated short Croissant de Triomphe received three 2013 Emmys, including the award for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program. The awards were announced during this year’s 65th Annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Croissant de Triomphe is a wacky animated short film, the first in a new Disney series of 19 cartoon shorts, produced and directed by animator Paul Rudish. After scoring a 2013 Oscar with its animated film Paperman, Disney debuted this wild short starring Mickey Mouse that follows our hero Mickey as he speeds through the City of Light, battling heavy traffic and many other obstacles, to deliver some badly needed croissants to Minnie’s cafe.

Father’s Day: Celebrating the Oft-Forgotten Men Who Raised Us

Dad is a short film created to celebrate all the oft-forgotten dads for Father’s Day. From the first moments of life, the bond formed between a father and his child is a sacred one. Father’s Day is a special time to honor the men who raised us, thanking them for their selfless dedication and love. Fathers are our first teachers, mentors and role models. They push us to succeed, encourage us when we’re struggling, and offer unconditional care and support.

Toy Stories: Home Is Where We Start From

Toy Stories, by Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti, captures a number of young children’s lives through their prized toys, artfully arranged around them in the homes where they live. It’s an intimate and revealing look at the world’s diverse cultures as experienced by children.

Toy Stories is the kind of work that traverses many levels: it’s a study in photography, socio-economic situations, anthropology and finally, childhood. To the extent that a child’s toys are viewed in terms of a means of play, their use as transitional objects opens pathways to the capacity to be alone and distinctions between “me” and “not-me,” as well as the use of illusion, symbols and objects later in life.

Years later, they will walk out from home looking for the world. For many, an optimistic idealism will witness the real world’s cruelties and heartbreaks, and yet some will find much room for hope.

As I Am: We Are Meant to Find Each Other

The more I keep thinking about when I died, when I was a child, I got a job to do. I wish I could remember what God told me to do. I wish I could remember the cuts I’m supposed to take, what cuts I’m supposed to create. What I know is, we are meant to connect, to find each other. Eyes to see. Hands to feel. Hearts to love.

As I Am is a beautiful, sensitive documentary short film by Emmy-Award winning photojournalist/filmmaker Alan Spearman. The poetic and powerful imagery of the film follows the Memphis landscape of remarkable young Chris Dean, revealing the many lives that have shaped his world. Told in Dean’s own words, the film is a long spoken word poem describing his trenchant observations about life: his thoughts and feelings regarding the places and people that make up his home. As I Am portrays Dean’s hopes, fears and, more than anything, his sensitivity and grace. The film has recently been nominated for Best Live Action Short Film in the 2013 Short of the Week Awards, with winners to be announced beginning February 4, 2013.

Chris Dean’s heart stopped when he was two; he died but he came back. When Chris was five, his father was murdered, shot with more than 20 bullets in a gang shootout. In 2011, at age 18, Chris gained national attention when he introduced President Barack Obama at his high school graduation. Chris is an observer-philosopher who has always had a few things to say about life from his vantage point in South Memphis. As I Am is a wonderful work, which originally premiered on the website of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Belly: A Heart-Wrenching Tale of Childhood Love and Loss

Belly is an acclaimed animated short film by filmmaker Julia Pott, created in 2011 for her thesis at London’s Royal College of Art. The film had a long and successful run on the festival circuit, including screenings at Sundance, Animafest Zagreb, SXSW, the Holland Animation Film Festival and the Hiroshima International Animation Festival (among many others). Belly has recently been nominated for Best Animated Short Film in the 2013 Short of the Week Awards, with winners to be announced beginning February 4, 2013.

Belly is a strange and beautiful coming-of-age tale that explores the bittersweet childhood transitional state of having to leave things behind. Oscar and his aggressive older brother Alex go the beach. Alex works very hard to put Oscar in his place, telling him that he isn’t old enough yet to go for a swim with him. Oscar, however, has a companion of his own, a “monster” who loves him and remains at his side. When Alex gets in trouble, it is up to Oscar and his monster to rescue him, but what Oscar gains from the experience in terms of maturity and Alex’s respect, is offset by the sadness of loss.